2016 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pure Rouge

Community Tasting Notes (18) Avg Score: 96.0 points

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  4/20/2024 - Gwgwggww Likes this wine: 96 Points

  Super rich in fruits and spices notes. Complex and very, very good. Will be intriguing to see how it develops over the years.

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  3/22/2024 - etyc Likes this wine:

  4-yrs since I last I had. From memory, I'd placed this somewhere between the 1st (most impressive) & 2nd (which had a lot less of that floral bouquet component) btl which I had. Violets, sandalwood, spices on the nose, with similar dark-red/black fruit driven palate with power/concentration encased in a satiny robe. Most didn't get this as a CdP, though. In a rather nice spot now!

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  5/28/2023 - Cailles wrote: 92 Points

  Three 2016 Chateauneuf-du-Papes. I tasted them right after release and loved them for their freshness and purity, all the fresh and not too ripe blue and red forest fruits, the elegance and balance. I had no doubt that 2016 was an amazing vintage. After tasting these wines again, I'm no longer sure that the 2016 vintage will fulfill all the promises of greatness. Lots of dried fruit, a bit too much sweetness and alcohol heat and therefore not as balanced as before, especially for the Clos des Papes and Barroche Pure. Only the Usseglio Deux Freres showed (at least partially) the wonderful cool fruit and freshness that I associate with this vintage. The positive scenario would be that these wines are in a transitional phase, the negative that they won't return to their old glory. We didn't decant the wines, but followed them for a few hours with little change.
  
  Clos des Papes 91pts
  (my highest rating of this wine was 97pts right after release)
  TN: The wine has lost most of the fresh and pure blue and red berry fruit it had on release. Of the three, this was the one with the most dried fruit flavors (which I don't like). It still had some fresh rhubarb and some red fruit underneath, as well as the more typical dirt and soil note to balance the sweetness and dried fruit. While the tannin quality is good, the great freshness of the early days is gone and the wine can't mask the alcohol perfectly. I had a double mag of this a year ago (rated 89pts) with the same results.
  
  Barroche Pure 92pts
  (my highest rating of this wine was 98pts right after release)
  TN: The fruit was not as dry as in the Clos des Papes, but not as pure and fresh as it used to be. It seemed much riper, very very ripe, but not completely overripe. There are also lots of spice and chocolate notes as well as dried herbs. This is still a complex wine with very good precision. The tannin structure is of high quality, the balance with the acidity is no longer at the perfect level it once had (as well as the weightless quality it once had (but it's not heavy or cloying either). Unfortunately, there is some alcohol heat that wasn't there before. This is still a good, modern CDP, just not as "Pure" as it once was.
  
  Usseglio Deux Freres 95pts
  (my highest rating of this wine was 97pts right after release)
  TN: Undoubtedly the winner in this lineup. This one hasn't lost it's cool, fresh, pure wild berry core and is still very fresh. Additional notes of fresh herbs and minerality, some chocolate notes. No longer the beautiful florals it once had. It is layered, precise and very well balanced thanks to an acidity that keeps everything in check. As with the other wines, the quality of the tannins is excellent. This is the only truly elegant wine of the three tonight, even if it showed a tiny hint of heat towards the end (but I'm quite sensitive to that). Rather modern style CDP.

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  5/18/2023 - DrBad Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Dinner with Denver Wine group and Laetitia Barrot of Domaine la Barroche. Didn't get to taste the first bottle, and second bottle, straight from the cellar, took some time to open up. Tobacco aromas, lots of structure, cherry. Excellent and still lots of life left.

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  3/6/2023 - HeavyPourWine Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Amazing. Scary how you can't even taste the alcohol!

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